RetroArch Alternatives

RetroArch is described as 'A portable, fast, and lightweight emulator frontend supporting classic and modern gaming systems with features like real-time rewinding and shader support' and is a very popular Game Emulator in the gaming software category. There are more than 100 alternatives to RetroArch for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Linux, Mac, Android and iPhone apps. The best RetroArch alternative is PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like RetroArch are DuckStation, Lemuroid, OpenEmu and Lakka.

filter to find the best alternatives

RetroArch alternatives are mainly Game Emulators, but if you're looking for Game Library Managers or Compatibility Layer Tools you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Windows, Linux, Android and iPhone. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to RetroArch.
Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard
Alternatives
Get a badge for your siteRetroArch alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  1. mGBA icon
     37 likes

    mGBA is an open source emulator of the Game Boy Advance. The goals are speed and accuracy.

    43 mGBA alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • US flagUnited States
    mGBA screenshot 1
    Good alternative?
     
    |
    1
  2. Snes9x icon
     150 likes

    Snes9x is a portable, Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) emulator. It allows you to play most games designed for the SNES and Super Famicom Nintendo game systems on your PC.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Source Available

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
    |
    1
  3. ZSNES icon
     198 likes

    ZSNES is a Super Nintendo Entertainment System emulator. Aside from emulation accuracy, many interface features first introduced in ZSNES have been adopted by other emulators. ZSNES interface features include: Smoothing and dynamic image scaling; screenshot capture; state...

    25 ZSNES alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
  4. Citra icon
     31 likes

    An experimental open-source Nintendo 3DS emulator/debugger written in C++. At this time, it only emulates a very small subset of 3DS hardware, and therefore is only useful for booting/debugging very simple homebrew demos. Citra is licensed under the GPLv2. Refer to the license.

    19 Citra alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • Flathub
    Good alternative?
     
    |
    1
  5. Vita3K icon
     17 likes

    Vita3K is the world's first functional experimental open-source PlayStation Vita emulator for Windows, Linux and macOS.

    6 Vita3K alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    Good alternative?
     
  6. Mame icon
     97 likes

    MAME stands for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. When used in conjunction with images of the original arcade game's ROM and disk data, MAME attempts to reproduce that game as faithfully as possible on a more modern general-purpose computer.

    24 Mame alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • AmigaOS
    • MorphOS
    Good alternative?
     
    |
    2
  7. Project64 icon
     112 likes

    Project64 is a Nintendo 64 emulator for the Windows platform. It employs a plugin system that allows 3rd party developers to implement their own software. It is an emulator, meaning that the user has the option to run ROM files that can be extracted from a Nintendo 64 game...

    26 Project64 alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Good alternative?
     
    |
    1
  8. LaunchBox icon
     48 likes

    LaunchBox was originally built as an attractive frontend to DOSBox, but has since expanded to support both modern PC games and emulated console platforms. LaunchBox aims to be the one-stop shop for gaming on your computer, for both modern and...

    65 LaunchBox alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Android
    Good alternative?
     
  9. Daijisho icon
     8 likes

    Daijisho is a retro launcher that let you manage your retro games libraries. Daijisho cares about integrated experience, expansibility, aesthetic and pragmatical usabilities let you focus on games itself.

    20 Daijisho alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Android
    Good alternative?
     
  10.  17 likes

    ChimeraOS (formerly GamerOS) is an operating system that provides an out of the box couch gaming experience. After installation, boot directly into Steam Big Picture and start playing your favorite games.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
  11. ePSXe icon
     131 likes

    ePSXe (enhanced PSX emulator) is an emulator of the PlayStation video game console for x86-based PC hardware. ePSXe makes use of a plugin system to emulate GPU, SPU, and CD drive functions, similar to the model first introduced in PSEmu Pro.

    26 ePSXe alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • Android Tablet
    Good alternative?
     
    |
    1
  12. Ares, which apparently replaced higan, was formerly known as bsnes. The project was renamed after becoming a multi-system emulator.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
You are at page 2 of RetroArch alternatives